Eleven intersections in Minneapolis
will soon become accessible to people who are blind. The Minneapolis
City Council met on November 27th to discuss funding for Accessible
Pedestrian Signals (APS).
Don Sobania, an Engineer
with the Department of Public Works, described the APS as “a device we attach to a traffic signal. It emits
a tone that’s called a locator tone.” People who use white
canes or dog guides can safely cross the street by following the pulsating
noise generated by the APS. The programmed device will tell the person
when it’s time to walk, and give a countdown time for when
a person needs to clear the intersection. People who are deaf or
who have a hearing disability will be able to actually feel the signal
coming from the APS; it will vibrate during the WALK interval of
the traffic signal. The tone generated by the APS will vary in volume
to compensate for the ambient noise level; it gets louder when competing
with noise from buses or cars, and adjusts to a quieter level when
the intersection is quiet, such as in the middle of the night.
The City Council selected eleven sites to give APS a trial. After
installation, a group of people from the community will be called on
to demonstrate how well the APS work and tally how often the devices
are used throughout the day. This feedback will be used to assess the
future of APS in Minneapolis. ![]()
Minneapolis intersections
getting APS equipment
• Olson Memorial Highway
and Penn Avenue
• Central Avenue and Hennepin Avenue/5th Street SE
• Central Avenue and University Avenue
• Nicollet Mall and 5th Street S
• 5th Street S and 3rd Avenue S
• 12th Street S and 2nd Avenue S
• Washington Avenue/Cedar Avenue and 15th Avenue
• Washington Avenue/19th Avenue S
• Cedar Avenue and 5th Street S (Midblock Crossing)
• East Franklin Avenue and East River Road
• Hennepin Avenue S and 29th Street W
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